How to Enable NCache Encryption

Encryption is the process of converting information in to unreadable form for anyone except authorized person. It helps users to protect sensitive information that is being stored within the NCache cache cluster. Encryption is the most effective method of data security and is necessary for businesses that handle sensitive information. NCache provides the following encryption algorithms that you can choose from:

3DES: very strong 168-bit encryption

AES-128: very strong 128-bit encryption

AES-192: very strong 192-bit encryption

AES-256: very strong 256-bit encryption

Within NCache both encryption and decryption are processes that occur on the client side of Client-Server architecture. This ensures that any data traveling over the network is secure and protected. If encryption is enabled than the data sent to and stored within the cache cluster is in encrypted form.

How to Configure Encryption with NCache

Follow the steps given below to enable Encryption in NCache:

Step 1

Open the NCache Manager and find the cache cluster you are looking for in NCache Explorer at the left side of the screen

Step 2

On the right hand side a TabControl panel will appear displaying configuration options for the selected cache cluster

Step 3

Open the Security tab. At the bottom you will find a panel named Encryption

Step 4

Check the Enable check-box in Encryption Panel. You can now choose the algorithm that you want to use for data encryption and decryption from Provider drop-down list.

Now add your encryption key in the Key field. Following diagram illustrates the process:

Step 5

Save these settings by right-clicking on the same cache cluster in the left pane and then click on Apply Configurations

Verify Encryption Feature

You can verify that NCache Manager has enabled encryption with the selected cache as follows:

Step 1

Open the configuration files that are located in NCache installation folder, for example, C:/Program Files/NCache/config. This folder contains all configuration files for NCache in the form of .ncconf files

Step 2

Open the config.ncconf file in any text editor. Within the <cache-config> tag you will see the <encryption> tag. If you can find this tag in your configuration file, than it is verified that encryption has been enabled.